


Old Comforts

by LetoaSai



Category: One Piece
Genre: Are we in a relationship?, Bathroom talk, Law's soft for Luffy, Luffy knowing what to say for once, M/M, Makeup, Mementos, Old memories, Post-Dressrosa, Soft Feels, This feels like a relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 09:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18892258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: Law didn't have many good memories in his past, but Luffy seemed to be able to pull them out whenever Law needed one.





	Old Comforts

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

"Torao! Torao!” Luffy had no filter and no concept of boundaries, so it didn’t surprise Law at all when the bathroom door to Bartolomeo's horrible ship was flung open and Luffy appeared. Since leaving Dressrosa there had been something between them. A buzzing he couldn’t ignore and while Luffy actually seemed to notice it, didn’t seem to bother him. 

There was a tension, but Law didn’t know quite what to call it. A sexual tension seemed to be taking things to far, but the butterflies that filled his stomach when he saw Luffy disagreed. No one had had done for him what what Straw Hat Luffy had. That impression wouldn’t just go away. 

Fuck, was this a relationship? 

“What?” Law asked dully, leaning against the bathroom sink while digging through a little pouch. 

“Usopp said we should be coming up on Zou any time now.” Luffy grinned, wandering in the room without permission and leaning against Law’s back. “What are you doing?” 

“Mm?” Law hummed, glancing at Luffy through the mirror. He must have been stretching some part of his body to be looking over his shoulder so easily. “Looking for my eye liner.” He had a desperate need to keep busy. Sitting alone with his own thoughts was not what the doctor ordered right now. 

Luffy’s neck stretched around to look at Law’s face directly. “Eye liner? You mean your eyes aren’t just like that?” 

Law snorted and shook his head. Luffy would think that. Well, most people probably did… The bags under his eyes probably didn't help.

“You have nice eyes.” Luffy commented, face way too close. “I think i do like them all dark though. Where did you learn that?” 

“I…” Law muttered, feeling his heart tug. This was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. “Someone taught me…” 

Over time much of his childhood had blurred together. He’d forced himself to forget much of Flevance, keeping only the most personal memories in his heart. It had hurt too much to think back on the once beautiful city left in ruins. The corpses of his friends had taken years to not think about in such great detail. Too many bad memories haunted him.

He hoped his time with the Donquixote pirates would fade just as easily now that he had avenged Cora. Maybe now he could let that anger go and not allow his life to be fueled by his hatred for Doflamingo. It was a long shot and he was still dizzy with the knowledge that they’d won, but he could now do what Cora had wanted. Live. 

Law stared at his reflection, easily recalling that idiot's voice. He couldn't forget that. His memories of Cora, those were still vivid. 

Law remembered staring up at the man as a child, watching him add the color to his eyes. It had been his first real introduction to such a thing. He couldn't recalled if or how his mother had worn her makeup but it had certainty been more subtle. Cora instead drew on a pattern beneath is eye and added lipstick to his mouth and across his cheeks. He distinctly recalled thinking he looked like a stupid clown the first time he’d seen him, but those months they traveled together, Law had decided he liked it. Without it, Cora looked wrong. 

“Can i do it?” Law had asked, pointing to Cora’s eye liner. 

“And let you stab my eye? No way, i do that enough on my own.” Cora laughed, holding the makeup tool the same way he did a cigarette as he pointed at Law. “You need a steady hand.” 

“My hands steadier than yours.” Law scowled. It was definitely a scowl and not a full blown pout. 

Cora’s expression had softened and he instead pulled out his lipstick. “Why don’t we start with this one? We can practice with the eyeliner before either of us brave losing an eye. You can wear it if you want.” 

It was a silly thing to want, and until that moment he'd had no idea how much attention he'd been craving.

He’d sat down on the floor, letting Law stand on his lap as he applied the lipstick. It was a little thing, but Law had enjoyed doing it and Cora didn’t seem to mind letting him. 

It was a few minutes a day where he wasn’t thinking about his impending death, or how the next hospital they stopped at would act like all the others. 

Cora had been patient, not bothered by the number of times Law had messed up and simply let him try again. It had only taken wearing the lipstick twice for Law to decide he didn’t like it. The eyeliner on the other hand had been fun. It took practice, but he was finally able to apply it to his own satisfaction. Sure it made his disease stand out more but at least his eyes looked nice. Cora had told him over and over again what a great job he'd done. How nice his eyes looked. Even if he was just being nice, Law clung to the praise.

It had made him feel better to like a single part of himself. 

Pride had come the day Cora-san had let Law do his own eye makeup. It should have been ridiculous to even think about, but Cora had given him something so simple. Just a little bit of love. 

“They must have done a good job. You do it well.” Luffy said, jogging Law from his thoughts. His chin was resting on Law’s shoulder, watching him in the mirror. 

“Thanks…” Law muttered finally finding his eyeliner in his makeup bag. It had been at the bottom laying side by side and old, dried up eyeliner pencil that had once been Cora’s. It was a stupid thing to keep… All the same, it comforted to have something, anything that had been Cora's. 

“You have nice eyes.” Luffy repeated with a smile, speaking softly for once. “I bet that person thought so too.” 

Law’s throat tightened and he nodded once. What else was he supposed to do? He bowed his head, feeling strangely hopeless. 

“Doffy’s gone now.” Luffy muttered, taking a stab in the dark at the problem while he wrapped his arms around Law’s torso. “You can try to be happy now.” 

He didn’t know how to live without Cora and without his sense of revenge. Now he had neither and working out his next move was going to take some time. 

“It’s your turn.” Luffy continued to cling to him. He didn’t comment on Law’s slight trembling for which he was grateful. “Live for you now.” 

Law snorted, voice still nowhere to be found. They stood there at the bathroom sink for a few minutes, Luffy allowing Law to have his quiet breakdown without filling the silence with noise. He pressed his face against the back of Law’s neck and held him tight. It meant more to Law that Luffy could shut up for this one moment and just stand there with him. 

It felt important, intimate. Fuck maybe this was a relationship. 

“Yeah…” Law finally said, not really directed at anything. It was merely the signal that he’d pulled himself back together. 

Luffy hummed once but didn’t pull away. “Hey. Can i put your eyeliner on you?” 

Law breathed out a huff of air before he could stop himself. “And let you stab me in the eye?” He smiled, nostalgia not depressing him for once. “No way.” 

“Awe, c’mon. I won’t.” Luffy grinned. “Let me try.” 

“Not on my eye you’re not.” Law chuckled, finally pulling out the eyeliner to apply heavily. “You can do it to yourself but i have a feeling you’ll end up looking like a raccoon.” 

Luffy laughed, the sound echoing around the bathroom. “Nu uh! I’ll look good!” 

“Yeah, okay.” Law snorted. “I’ll believe that when i see it.” 

“You will! Let me try when you’re done! Then you'll have to tell me how nice my eyes look too.” 

Law couldn't help but smile at the stupid comment. He definitely wasn't going to do something stupid like tell Luffy he was fine how he was. “You use all my eyeliner and you’ll be buying me a new one.” 

Luffy grinned, still clinging to him. “I’m a pirate, i’ll steal it!” 

“Luffy!” Usopp groaned from the bathroom door. “Does privacy mean nothing to you!?” 

“What?” He looked back at him, still curled up against Law’s back. “It’s just Torao.” 

Usopp reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. “It doesn't matter who it is, you idiot.”

Law looked back at him and shrugged. In the grand scheme of things, this was not the worst situation Luffy had ever put him in. It probably didn't even make the list. “Forget about it. He’s fine.” 

“He’s…” Usopp blinked. “What?” If he didn't know any better he'd think the other Captain was happier around Luffy...

“My turn!” Luffy laughed, taking the eye liner from Law’s fingers and moving to sit on the sink to get as close to the mirror as he could. 

“Don’t poke your eye out.” Law muttered, obviously entertained. He'd actually leaned a little closer to watch and laughed outright when Luffy stretched his skin away from his eye before applying the black lines. 

Usopp just stood at the door, confused over the sight. What the hell was he even seeing? What was going on? He probably really didn't want to know.

**Author's Note:**

> So... I'm mildly curious to know what else Law keeps in his makeup bag...


End file.
